How to Name Your Consulting Niche

One of the most common blocks I see with new clients isn't lack of expertise — it's the belief that a 'niche' has to be something entirely new, distinct from anything they've done before. It doesn't. Most useful niches are simply a name put on work you've already been doing, aimed at a specific type of client.

Look at what you've already been asked to do

The fastest way to find a niche isn't brainstorming from scratch — it's reviewing the last several years of your work and noticing the pattern in what people actually asked you for help with. Not your job title. The specific requests. That pattern is usually more specific, and more marketable, than the title on your CV suggests.

Cross a sector with a function

Strong niches usually sit at the intersection of a sector and a function: conservation finance, climate MEL, humanitarian supply chains, donor investment-readiness. Naming both halves does more work than naming either alone — it tells a potential client both what you understand and what you can deliver.

Say it the way a client would search for it

A niche description written for your own resume often doesn't match the words an organization would use to describe the problem they're trying to solve. Write your positioning in their language, not yours — it's a small shift that makes a large difference in whether people recognize your offer as relevant to them.

If you want to position for this work, here's the actual move: pick partners working on something you genuinely understand, find the person closest to it, and ask what they're building.

You can narrow further later

A niche isn't permanent. Most consultants refine theirs as they take on real engagements and learn which version of the offer actually lands. The goal at the start isn't precision — it's specific enough to be memorable and broad enough to be true.